The Body...

Working Miracles Food Pantry

The Working Miracle Food Program provides emergency non-perishable food assistance to the elderly, the disabled, the unemployed, the underemployed, and men and women with children are are in need of nutritional supplements. More than 2,500 families and 600 elderly receive services from us every month.

Everyone needs a helping hand at some time in their lives to get back on one's feet again. We give people dignity and courage to ask for help in feeding their families when there is a disaster or emergency such as a loss of employment, disability, illness, or disasters such as 9/11 . The elderly, who spend all their lives working and paying into the system, have difficulty making ends meet with the social security and fixed incomes they are living on. Those who are experiencing long term unemployment, living on temporary jobs due to the slow economy, and families unable to jump back into a quality of life after a disaster are just a few of so many heart breaking stories one hears, all due to the myriads of issues affecting those who cannot support their families.

Our Wellness Program helps to develop our clients by promoting good health through eating healthy fresh fruits and vegetables which we distribute to our clients every distribution day. This is a long term project in which we educate clients to preventf heart disease and diabetes. This preventive program will empower clients to take a first hand look at their lives, their health, their financial situation since many of the women coming to the pantry are single mothers, the family breadwinners, disabled and elderly widow/s and widowers. Being overwhelmed with financial problems, family issues and other health concerns presents more stress and takes a toll on the health of women and the elderly. The Social Service component of the Wellness Program is a critical component of our work, as it links our clients to life sustaining services such as entitlement benefits, medical and health care, job training, employment and services for young mothers.

The Mind...

Reading & Cooking Program

Kid's Cooking: Children today are at risk for many diseases such as diabetes, obesity, and poor general health due to poor eating habits formed early in life. The Kid's Cooking classes help children learn to eat well, feel well, and enjoy reading. Please check out our Newsletter. or check us out on the ACF Chefs

Reading and Literacy: Our Reading and Literacy Program makes book distributions at our site. Book parties are held at various locations where we invite poets, authors, storytellers, musicians, and others to read to children with parental encouragement and support. Our partners included Time Warner Cable, Playhouse Disney, Putnam, Scholastic, Barnes and Noble and more..

New Direction Services is committed to serving children by helping to foster better literacy and healthy development though our cooking classes, our chess program promotion and our lego robotics program promotion. Our student coordinators are consistently looking for ways to enable children to find safe after school initiatives to help them succeed in life. For information,please contact us.

The Spirit...

Cultural Awareness

One of the major sources of cultural misunderstanding lies in deeply rooted perceptions of reality we all have. Developing cultural awareness is a process of looking inward. Intercultural learning is a process focused on learning about other cultural groups. Both enables us to eventually assimilate and adapt to another culture thus becoming more appreciative of that particular culture. To reach this level, one must experience various levels of learning or understanding.New Direction Services is at the forefront in addressing diversity and cultural awareness issues on Staten Island. We have held conferences both at Wagner College and the College of Staten Island. We continue to hold community diversity forums and also participate in many diversity and cultural awareness conferences, workshops and conventions. The executive director is a member of the Staten Island Anti Bias Task force founded by the Borough President.

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